Lawyer says efforts to sully his client’s reputation raise questions whether management are serious about their cultural review.
Amber Sherlock’s lawyer has hit back at statements by Nine after it denied she was a “well-liked and popular member of the news division’s team.”
Nine had also denied her claims that she “faithfully and diligently served” the company during her 18 years of employment, stating she was counselled on her “communications and interactions with colleagues.”
But John Laxon, principal of Laxon Lex, seized upon Nine’s own history of toxic work culture.
The 2024 external review found Nine has a systemic issue with abuse of power and authority; bullying, discrimination and harassment; and sexual harassment.
“Nine’s efforts to sully my client’s reputation after 18 years of fabulous service are disappointing and unnecessary and also raise questions whether Nine management are serious about adhering to the lessons of their cultural review, which identified a toxic culture of gender inequality,” he said.
Laxon claimed there was an “absence of more mature female presenters at Nine”, and that numbers would drop further following the departure of news anchor Georgie Gardner on Friday. “The older blokes on screen are in abundance,” Laxon said.
Nine denied sacking Sherlock because she was a woman nearing her 50th birthday, which were prt of wider redundancies.
“We strongly reject any suggestion that this influences any decision to remove a role that is no longer required in our business,” a spokesman said.
“The dedicated role of the 6pm weather presenter for 9News Sydney was made redundant in November 2025. Since then, a number of different reporters and presenters have presented the 6pm weather in addition to filling other roles across the network.”
Source: AFR.com.au